the number of Law School credit hours earned for successful completion

Title

Code

Faculty

Quarter and Year

Key

Description contains

Abrams Environmental Law Clinic

LAWS 67813- 01(1 to 3)1L, a, s

Primarily through litigation, students in the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic work to address climate change, water pollution and legacy contamination and to protect natural resources and human health. To date, the Clinic has focused on holding accountable natural resource extraction companies for actual or anticipated damage to the environment, as well as the government agencies that permit such activities. The Clinic has also recently become more involved in the development and implementation of rules and regulations regarding climate change, renewable energy, and energy efficiency, with an eye toward future litigation on these issues. Clinic students engage in a wide variety of activities to learn practical legal skills, from conducting factual investigations, to interviewing witnesses and preparing affidavits, to reviewing administrative determinations, to drafting motions, to conducting depositions, to working with experts, to arguing motions and to presenting at trial or an administrative hearing. The Clinic generally represents regional and national environmental organizations and works with co-counsel, thus exposing students to the staff of these organizations and other experienced environmental lawyers. The Clinic may also engage in legislative reform and rule-making efforts; students interested solely in that kind of work should notify the instructor before joining the clinic, if possible. Students interested in environmental transactional work should let the instructor know so that projects around this kind of work can be developed.
While it helps for students to have taken or be taking one or more of Environmental Law, Administrative Law, Evidence, or Trial Advocacy, these courses are not pre-requisites or co-requisites.
Furthermore, it is not necessary to have an environmental, science or engineering background; all are welcome.

Abrams Environmental Law Clinic

LAWS 67813- 01(1 to 3)a, s

Primarily through litigation, students in the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic work to address climate change, water pollution and legacy contamination and to protect natural resources and human health. To date, the Clinic has focused on holding accountable natural resource extraction companies for actual or anticipated damage to the environment, as well as the government agencies that permit such activities. The Clinic has also recently become more involved in the development and implementation of rules and regulations regarding climate change, renewable energy, and energy efficiency, with an eye toward future litigation on these issues. Clinic students engage in a wide variety of activities to learn practical legal skills, from conducting factual investigations, to interviewing witnesses and preparing affidavits, to reviewing administrative determinations, to drafting motions, to conducting depositions, to working with experts, to arguing motions and to presenting at trial or an administrative hearing. The Clinic generally represents regional and national environmental organizations and works with co-counsel, thus exposing students to the staff of these organizations and other experienced environmental lawyers. The Clinic may also engage in legislative reform and rule-making efforts; students interested solely in that kind of work should notify the instructor before joining the clinic, if possible. Students interested in environmental transactional work should let the instructor know so that projects around this kind of work can be developed.
While it helps for students to have taken or be taking one or more of Environmental Law, Administrative Law, Evidence, or Trial Advocacy, these courses are not pre-requisites or co-requisites.
Furthermore, it is not necessary to have an environmental, science or engineering background; all are welcome.

Abrams Environmental Law Clinic

LAWS 67813- 01(1 to 3)a, s

Primarily through litigation, students in the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic work to address climate change, water pollution and legacy contamination and to protect natural resources and human health. To date, the Clinic has focused on holding accountable natural resource extraction companies for actual or anticipated damage to the environment, as well as the government agencies that permit such activities. The Clinic has also recently become more involved in the development and implementation of rules and regulations regarding climate change, renewable energy, and energy efficiency, with an eye toward future litigation on these issues. Clinic students engage in a wide variety of activities to learn practical legal skills, from conducting factual investigations, to interviewing witnesses and preparing affidavits, to reviewing administrative determinations, to drafting motions, to conducting depositions, to working with experts, to arguing motions and to presenting at trial or an administrative hearing. The Clinic generally represents regional and national environmental organizations and works with co-counsel, thus exposing students to the staff of these organizations and other experienced environmental lawyers. The Clinic may also engage in legislative reform and rule-making efforts; students interested solely in that kind of work should notify the instructor before joining the clinic, if possible. Students interested in environmental transactional work should let the instructor know so that projects around this kind of work can be developed.
While it helps for students to have taken or be taking one or more of Environmental Law, Administrative Law, Evidence, or Trial Advocacy, these courses are not pre-requisites or co-requisites.
Furthermore, it is not necessary to have an environmental, science or engineering background; all are welcome.

Accounting and Financial Analysis

LAWS 79103- 01(3)+, s, x

This course is designed to quickly introduce you to (or, preferably, refresh your knowledge of) basic financial accounting [first two weeks of class] and then aims to aggressively increase your ability to be a highly sophisticated user of financial statements. After taking this course, you should improve your ability to determine a firm's accounting policy for a particular type of transaction and to determine how that policy choice affects its primary financial statements. You will also learn how to question whether these effects fairly reflect the underlying economics of the firm's transactions. Asking these questions involves an interplay between accounting, economics, finance, law and business strategy. You should therefore greatly improve your ability to use an accounting report as part of an overall assessment of the firm's strategy and the potential rewards and risks of dealing with the firm.
The teaching approach will be a roughly equal combination of lecture time and demanding case applications of the lecture material that will involve group case assignments that will form the basis for in-class discussion of the cases. The technical knowledge acquired from the lecture material is applied to cases where the main goal is to examine how the reported financial statements would differ if the firm had used different accounting policies. The focus is on modifying the reported financial statements in order to obtain the cleanest possible inputs for use in such applications as equity valuation, transaction structuring and credit analysis.
The topics to be discussed are likely to include the accounting for, and interpretation of: revenue recognition, intercorporate investments, organizational structures (e.g., franchising), debt, and leases. Intensive group hand-in cases will be used to illustrate how the flexibility in financial reporting can reflect both the economics of the firm and the incentives of the managers creating the financial statements.
It is strongly recommended that students registering for this course have some prior exposure to accounting course work, at least at the level of Fundamentals of Accounting for Attorneys (LAWS 79112) or Legal Elements of Accounting (LAWS 79102).
Grading will be based on case assignments, short homework assignments, class participation, and a final exam.

Administrative Law

LAWS 46101- 01(3)

This course examines the structure of the administrative state, its relations to the other branches of government and private citizens, and the constitutional, statutory, and common law rules that govern the substance and procedure of administration action and inaction. The course focuses on some constitutional topics, including the non-delegation doctrine, presidential control over administrative agencies, and the delegation of adjudicative authority to non-Article III officers. Substantial attention is given to the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and other statutory requirements for lawful agency action. Covered topics include the proper role of agencies in interpreting statutory and regulatory law; judicial review of agency decisions; and public participation in agency rulemaking. A central theme of the course is how the law manages the tension between rule of law values (e.g., procedural regularity, accountability, and substantive limits on arbitrary action) and the desire for flexible, effective administrative governance.
The student's grade is based on class participation and a final examination.

Administrative Law

LAWS 46101- 01(3)

This course examines the structure of the administrative state, its relations to the other branches of government and private citizens, and the constitutional, statutory, and common law rules that govern the substance and procedure of administration action and inaction. The course focuses on some constitutional topics, including the non-delegation doctrine, presidential control over administrative agencies, and the delegation of adjudicative authority to non-Article III officers. Substantial attention is given to the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and other statutory requirements for lawful agency action. Covered topics include the proper role of agencies in interpreting statutory and regulatory law; judicial review of agency decisions; public participation in agency rulemaking; and non-traditional approaches to regulation, including negotiation and privatization. A central theme of the course is how the law manages the tension between rule of law values (e.g., procedural regularity, accountability, and substantive limits on arbitrary action) and the desire for flexible, effective administrative governance.
The student's grade is based on a final examination.

Admiralty Law

LAWS 71001- 01(3)

This course will cover the development and scope of this part of the jurisdiction of the federal courts, the role of the Supreme Court in the common law development of the substantive law of the admiralty, and several of the main elements of substantive maritime law: maritime torts, industrial accidents, collisions, salvage, and limitation of liability.
The student's grade is based on class participation and a final take-home examination.

Advanced Civil Procedure

LAWS 52502- 01(3)

This course examines salient features of major civil litigation from both a practitioner's and a policymaker's perspective. Broadly, these features fall into two categories: issues with forum and aggregation on the one hand, and problems with the collection and production of evidence on the other. Topics in the first category include class actions and arbitration. Topics in the second category include electronic discovery, expert witnesses, and preservation. In addition, this course studies how the federal rulemaking process, statutes, and judicial decisions compete to define the procedures that govern civil litigation.
The student's grade is based on a final examination with some consideration of class participation.

Advanced Law and Economics: Theory and Practice

LAWS 55401- 01(3)+, c/l, r, w

This course examines theoretical and empirical work in the economic analysis of law. It will cover, among other things, optimal tort rules, models of contract liability and remedies, optimal criminal rules, settlement and plea bargaining, and models of judicial behavior.
Students are required to be PhD students in the Economics Department, the Harris School or the Booth School, or law students. Students should have the equivalent of an undergraduate economics degree or have taken Economic Analysis of the Law in the Law School. The course will expect students to have Economics PhD-level math skills.
Students will be required to submit 3-4 short research proposals related to topics covered in class. These proposals are sketches of original research that, once developed, could yield publishable academic papers.

Advanced Legal Research

LAWS 79802- 01(2 to 3)+, l, m, s, x

The purpose of this seminar is to enhance students' knowledge of legal sources and to develop their ability to research the law. The seminar will cover the basic categories of legal research in depth and with a focus on practical skills and efficiency, including statutes, administrative law, legislative history, cases, and secondary sources. This seminar also will address a series of practice areas such as corporate and securities, tax, transactional, federal procedure, and intellectual property, focusing on the substantive resources and practical research skills for each. Upon successful completion of the seminar, students will expand their understanding of research resources in a variety of areas, will improve their skills in using legal research tools, and will develop extensive research knowledge in at least one area from their work on a final research paper.
The seminar will be limited to twenty-five students with priority to third year students.
To receive credit for this seminar, students must complete research assignments (30 percent of grade), submit a research paper on a topic approved by the instructor (60 percent of grade), and attend and participate in class meetings (10 percent).
Students may earn either 2 or 3 credits for this seminar depending upon the number of assignments completed and the length of their final paper.
A 20-25 page paper will be required for the 3-credit option for this seminar, along with 4 research assignments. For the 2-credit option for this seminar, students will write a 10-15 page paper and complete 2 research assignments.
Research assignments will count towards 30% of the final grade; the research paper 60%.
Class participation counts for 10%. In the research paper, the student should extensively and comprehensively address sources for researching the topic, discuss successful and less useful techniques, and recommend research strategies.

Advanced Legal Research

LAWS 79802- 01(2 to 3)m, s, x

The purpose of this seminar is to enhance students’ knowledge of legal sources and to develop their ability to research the law. The seminar will cover the basic categories of legal research in depth and with a focus on practical skills and efficiency, including statutes, administrative law, legislative history, cases, and secondary sources. This seminar also will address a series of practice areas such as corporate and securities, tax, transactional, federal procedure, and intellectual property, focusing on the substantive resources and practical research skills for each. Upon successful completion of the seminar, students will expand their understanding of research resources in a variety of areas, will improve their skills in using legal research tools, and will develop extensive research knowledge in at least one area from their work on a final research paper.
The seminar will be limited to twenty-five students with priority to third year students.
To receive credit for this seminar, students must complete research assignments (30 percent of grade), submit a research paper on a topic approved by the instructor (60 percent of grade), and attend and participate in course meetings (10 percent).
Students may earn either 2 or 3 credits for this seminar depending upon the number of assignments completed and the length of their final paper (minimum 20 pages for 3 credits; 10 pages for 2 credits).
In the research paper, the student should extensively and comprehensively address sources for researching the topic, discuss successful and less useful techniques, and recommend research strategies.

Advanced Legal Writing

LAWS 79901- 01(2)+, s, w, x

This course will prepare law students for the working world by honing writing skills for briefs, memoranda, motions and contracts. We will discuss and practice the major principles of legal writing in plain English -- no jargon, no legalese, no anachronistic fluff. In addition to fine-tuning basic and more advanced writing skills, students will learn how to use their writing to win arguments, persuade clients and sharpen their own thinking. The class will function largely as a workshop where we analyze the impact of various writing styles. Regular attendance is essential. Through exercises and group critiques, students will learn to write more succinctly and effectively. Better writers make better lawyers.
The course concludes with an eight-hour take-home examination, which determines the student's grade.
Students must complete all assignments before the exam.
This course satisfies the requirements of the Writing Project writing requirement.
Legal Research and Writing is a pre-requisite.
NB: The first meeting of this class will be 6:10-8:10 p.m. on Thursday, March 26. All other meetings will be on Tuesdays, 4:00-6:00 p.m. The class will not meet Tuesday, March 31.

Advanced Topics in Corporate Reorganizations

LAWS 43702- 01(2 to 3)+, m, w, x

This seminar will explore emerging issues in corporate reorganization. We are principally interested in the ever-present tension between bankruptcy law and policy and the practical reality of managing a company’s business in Chapter 11. The seminar will address four broad topics: (i) asset sales and restructuring agreements, (ii) inter-creditor agreements and post-petition financing, (iii) the safe harbors for financial contracts, and (iv) cross-border insolvency. We will devote two seminar meetings to each topic. During the first, we will discuss case law and hypotheticals, academic and practice-oriented articles, and pleadings, briefs and orders from recent Chapter 11 cases. During the second meeting, we will invite a leading professional to join our seminar and discuss his or her perspectives on the topic that we are studying. Students will lead this discussion. If time permits, our group will join the professional for dinner after the seminar.
Grades will be based on class participation (40%) and four short papers (60%).
The papers are intended to prepare you to engage deeply in discussion with the invited professionals.
Each paper should not exceed six double-spaced pages, should analyze and raise questions about an aspect of a topic that we are studying, and should be submitted no later than noon on the day when we are hosting a professional.
Although there is no pre- or co-requisite for this seminar, we recommend that you have taken or are currently taking a course in bankruptcy law.
Students wishing to take the seminar for three credits must write an additional 10-12 page research paper.

Advanced Topics in Criminal Law: Vice and Victimless Crimes

LAWS 99004- 01(3)l, m, w, x

This seminar will explore major topics in vice law, including: the philosophical foundations for punishing vice; the political economy and social history of vice law in the United States; drug crime; gambling; and prostitution. It will ask students to engage with both the law governing vice, and the philosophical as well as political debates about whether this is an arena of human activity in which the state has the right or duty to intrude.

Advanced Topics in Moral, Political and Legal Philosophy

LAWS 78603- 01(3)+, c/l, m, r, w

The topic for Winter 2015 is “Freedom and Responsibility, Contemporary and Historical.” We will begin by canvassing the major philosophical positions in the Anglophone literature on free will and moral responsibility over the past half-century, with readings drawn from some or all of P.F. Strawson, G. Strawson, R. Kane, H. Frankfurt, G. Watson, and others. In the second half of the seminar we will step back to look at the treatment of these same issues by major figures in the history of philosophy, including M. Frede’s A Free Will: Origins of the Notion in Ancient Thought, as well as primary texts by some or all of Hume, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Sartre.
The seminar is open only to philosophy Ph.D. students without permission and to J.D. students with a background in philosophy; others must seek instructor permission.

Advanced Trademarks and Unfair Competition

LAWS 69902- 01(2 to 3)+, l, m, w, x

This seminar addresses current issues in trademark law and their evolution since the latter half of the 19th century, such as trademark law's constitutional foundations; competing justifications of trademark rights (incentivizing manufacturers while lowering consumer search costs, fostering commercial morality, protecting property rights, vindicating speech interests, and so on); the reciprocal development of trademark doctrine and commercial practice; the interplay of trademark and First Amendment law; statutory and judicial limitations on trademark rights and those limitations' normative underpinnings; counterfeiting, contributory infringement, and the online marketplace; and the peculiar role (especially in light of other nations' practices) of federal registrations in the acquisition and maintenance of U.S. trademark rights.
Enrollment is limited to twenty-five students.
Previous or concurrent coursework or professional experience in intellectual property is recommended but not required.
A student's grade is based on class participation and either a series of short thought papers for two credits, or a series of longer research papers totaling at least 20 pages, or a major research paper, both for three credits.

American Law and the Rhetoric of Race

LAWS 49801- 01(3)+, c/l

This course presents an episodic study of the ways in which American law has treated legal issues involving race. Two episodes are studied in detail: the criminal law of slavery during the antebellum period and the constitutional attack on state-imposed segregation in the twentieth century. The case method is used, although close attention is paid to litigation strategy as well as to judicial opinions.
Undergraduate students registering in LLSO, PLSC, HIST cross-listed offerings must request faculty consent prior to registration. Law students do NOT need consent.
Grades are based on class participation and a final examination.

American Legal History: The Twentieth Century

LAWS 97603- 01(3)c/l, e, x

This course examines major legal and constitutional conflicts in twentieth century American history. Topics include law and social movements, the role of the courts, rights consciousness, the legal profession, and legal thought. Students will connect legal texts and legal struggles to broader developments in social, cultural, and political history.
Grading is based on class participation and a final examination.

Animal Law

LAWS 46022- 01(3)l, m, w, x

This seminar will survey the treatment of animals in the law. Students will explore the legal status of animals in a variety of contexts. Topics will include: the uses to which animals are put and scientific understanding of their capacities; the ramifications of the legal classification of animals as “property;” how the law impacts people’s relationship with companion animals; use of animals by industry, including agribusiness; current animal protection laws, state and federal, as well as efforts to reform such laws through legislation and litigation; “standing” and other problems of litigating on behalf of animals; developing theories on the economic valuation of animals; and the way the law regulates the dissemination of information regarding animals. The seminar will cover several different areas of the law as they intersect with animal rights and animal welfare issues, including first amendment/constitutional law, criminal law, administrative law, torts, contracts, and consumer protection law. Conducted in a discussion format centered around weekly reading assignments, the seminar will allow students to explore the latest cases, legislation, and legal theories developing in animal law. All perspectives are both welcome and open to critique.
The grade is based on a series of short research papers.

Anthropology and Law

LAWS 93812- 01(3)m, r, w, x

This seminar for law students and graduate students in the social sciences will provide an introduction to the field of legal anthropology. We will address anthropological theories of the nature of law and disputes, examine related studies of legal structures in non-Western cultures, and consider the uses of anthropology in studying facets of our own legal system. By examining individual legal institutions in the context of their particular cultural settings, we can begin to make cross-cultural comparisons and contrasts. In so doing, we confront the challenge of interpreting and understanding the legal rules and institutions of other cultures while assessing the impact of our own social norms and biases on the analysis. Thus, our analytic and interpretative approach will require us to examine the cultural assumptions that underpin various aspects of our own belief systems and the American legal system.
The grade is based on a final written paper (80%) and class participation (20%).